As Hamlet (never) said, “The design’s the thing / From which student plagiarism oft does spring.”

As Hamlet (never) said, “The design’s the thing / From which student plagiarism oft does spring.”

Space is limited, so please register here in advance.

It is this time of the term when course papers are due, and most of our students desperately cram through the night for the deadline. It is no wonder that even the best of them tend to be less careful. It might be true that some international students come from countries with different academic cultures and, consequently, . But Canadian undergraduate and graduate students are also no strangers to heavy “.”

We tend to blame our students for intentional cheating and not taking time to review the plagiarism policy. However, the reason behind plagiarism cases is more often than not a simple lack of knowledge of how to use sources properly (unskilled citing, paraphrasing, or synthesizing). Additionally, for the generation of digital natives who are used to freely obtaining and sharing information online as if it were common knowledge, it might not be easy to grasp the . This makes me think that prevention might indeed be the best cure.

In what follows below, I will share some of non-time-consuming in-class activities and websites that might help your undergraduate students recognize and avoid plagiarism in their own writing.

I begin the discussion about plagiarism by asking students to give a verdict on real-life plagiarism cases. One can find sample situations on the or . Students work in a group discussing the case and what the consequences might/should be.

Since it is usually not enough just to give the general definition of plagiarism, I assign my students to find information about and identify similarities and differences across them.

Once they have mastered the “theory,” it is time to practice plagiarism recognition. and provide some excellent examples of word-for-word and paraphrasing plagiarism. Students can even try themselves as “plagiarism checkers” and take a plagiarism-recognition practice test. has a sample of a student essay that clearly demonstrates how incorrect in-text citations might lead to plagiarism. I ask my students not only to identify, but also to correct the passages (in groups, pairs, or individually), which helps them review the basics of citing and paraphrasing.

When students work on their writing assignments, I often organize peer feedback sessions. Students are required to exchange their drafts and sources that they have used, and read each other’s drafts for possible unintentional plagiarism. I always encourage them to run their paper through an online plagiarism checker such as .

Raising plagiarism awareness in your classroom will not, of course, eliminate “borrowing” and cheating altogether. However, it will be of great benefit to those majority of students who might be committing this offence without knowing.

Are plagiarized student papers driving you to your wits’ end? Join the EDC on Nov. 3 for an interactive workshop that will explore how we can use course design to reduce opportunities for plagiarized writing assignments. As Hamlet (never) said, “The design’s the thing / From which student plagiarism oft does spring.”

The session runs from 1-2:30 p.m. in room 422 Dunton Tower.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to discover how course design can be used to prevent plagiarism. .